


Cats In The Cradle

by CaptainParisStarr



Series: What Time Changes [2]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Ann and Ryuji's daughter, Birthday Surprises, Implied Student Teacher relationship, M/M, Mishima has a brother, Sexual Harassment, Suspected Infidelity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-11 17:55:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19932121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainParisStarr/pseuds/CaptainParisStarr
Summary: Ryuji has been living with Yusuke for five months when, on his birthday, he overhears Yusuke on the phone early in the morning making plans with someone else. But is he cheating, or is something else going on?





	Cats In The Cradle

Ryuji woke slowly, his arm stretched out searching for warmth his sleep muddled mind told him should be there.

Slowly, and with great effort, he opened his eyes, the empty space where Yusuke should be greeting him like a punch to the gut. 

This was the fifth day in a row Ryuji had woken alone, Yusuke's side of the bed cold and empty.

While it wasn't uncommon for Yusuke to wake before Ryuji, he usually lay in bed watching his lover sleep.

Several times he had woken Ryuji with soft kisses, or even a blow job.

The first time Ryuji had woken to find Yusuke lying between his legs, sucking on him Ryuji had thought he would die from the beauty of the sight.

He didn't know what had changed, why Yusuke was suddenly withdrawing. Pulling away from Ryuji.

Was it something he had said? Try as he might, however, Ryuji could recall no careless comment that could explain this, nor did they have a fight.

It had been five months since Ryuji had moved in with the artist, and four months since Ryuji had started his new job at Shujin. PE instructor, the same position Kamoshida had once held so many years before.

“Yusk?” He called out, not expecting an answer. None came. “Shit.” He got out of bed and padded downstairs.

“-Yes, I understand...” He froze as Yusuke's voice drifted upstairs to his ears. “I will see you then. No, no he doesn't suspect anything. Yes, it will be ready on time. Goodbye.”

The words, whispered into a cell phone, hit him like a second blow to the gut, and he hurried back upstairs.

Was Yusuke having an affair? No, it wasn't possible! He'd never even had sex before Ryuji had walked back into his life. His only other serious relationship had been with an ace, and therefore nonsexual.

He thought back to the sex they'd engaged in the night before, but Ryuji could think of nothing that had been different about it. Yusuke had seemed neither withdrawn nor tired then.

He just didn't get it as he started up the shower, tears sliding down his cheeks to mix with the water spiraling down the drain.

It was his birthday, and that's what hurt the most. He was finally with the boy he'd always loved, on some level, since the first moment they'd met and he was making plans with someone else to meet up. On his birthday.

“What's for breakfast?” His voice was normal, neutral, as he sat down, as though he had not overheard the tag end of an illicit phone call.

“Omelette over rice.” Yusuke handed a plate over; he was oddly good at making fancy dishes out of leftover groceries and today was no exception.

“Looks delicious, thank you. Do you have a deadline coming up? You weren't in bed when I woke up.”

“I have an ongoing project that demanded my attention, yes.”

Ongoing project? Is that how Yusuke was justifying cheating?

“Oh, can I see it?” He asked, carefully modulating his voice to not tip Yusuke off to his suspicions.

“Once the project is complete, you may see.”

That was not at all unusual for Yusuke, he often was secretive about unfinished works. 

“I should get going. Oh, lunch?”

“On the counter.” Yusuke caught Ryuji up for a warm kiss before letting him leave the apartment.

Ryuji's head spun in circles, like the picked petals of a flower. He's cheating. He's not cheating. He's cheating. Around and around it went and by the time Ryuji got to the school all he had figured out was that worrying made him nauseous.

“Good morning Sakamoto-sensei.” The boy who had spoken walked by, wiggling his ass in a way that was supposed to be provocative.

“Mishima-kun, you're here early.” Unlike his elder brother, Kenta Mishima was bold and outgoing. In fact a love of athletics was the only thing that Ryuji could see that the brothers had in common.

He had never met Kenta when he was attending Shujin since Yuuki Mishima had gradated alongside Ryuji, and Ann, while his kid brother was still in elementary school.

He hadn't even known that Yuuki Mishima had a brother before seeing the name on his attendance list on his first day of the school year.

“I hear tell that today is your birthday. I wanna give you a present, in the locker room...”

“No.” He pulled away. The boy was hot; much like Ryuji had done himself as a student, his hair was spiked, the tips bleached before being dyed bright blue. A single earring shone in his left earlobe, and though Ryuji had never seen it for himself, the track team was full of rumors that he had a pierced nipple as well.

He was also infamous for flirting with guys and girls alike, and from the get go he had flirted with Ryuji. If he went into the locker room with the boy, alone, he knew that something sexual was bound to happen.

The rumors had it that he dropped his pants for all cute boys, and knew how to get girls to lift their skirts too, but Ryuji did not know how much truth there was to those rumors.

One thing was undeniably true though, Kenta Mishima wanted him, and if Ryuji gave in he could be fired.

But even if Yusuke was cheating, he could not justify an affair. Especially not an affair with a student, no matter how hot the kid was. “Get to homeroom.”

“But, Sir!”

“I've told you before, we can't. Its illegal. Now get to class.” He walked away.

“Yes, Sir.” Mishima's footsteps echoed down the corridor away from the gym.

Ryuji sighed, already knowing that it would be a very long day.

* * *

“Mishima-kun, are you okay in there?” Everyone else from the Track Team had left, but Kenta was still in the shower room and Ryuji was getting worried.

“I don't feel too good, Sakamoto-sensei.”

“Shit.” He cursed underneath his breath; it was probably a trap but if he left without checking and Mishima was injured or ill he would be suspended without pay. Swallowing hard, he entered the room...

And found Mishima naked and waiting for him on a bench, steel sparking not just from his nipples, but from the tip of his cock too.

“What is this?”

“Happy birthday.” With a smile, the boy pounced, slamming his mouth against Ryuji's.

"What the...!" Was as far as Ryuji got before a hot tongue slid into his mouth and down his throat.

The temptation to bite that tongue; which was also pierced!; rose alongside Ryuji's gorge and he shoved hard at Mishima's shoulders. He shoved too hard, knocking the boy back onto his ass.

"Awe, don't be like that baby!" He stroked himself in a way that Ryuji was certain was meant to be seductive, sensual. It wasn't; instead the act reeked of desperation, and Ryuji realized the boy was a spoiled brat.

A car crash two years earlier had left the brothers orphaned, but Yuuki by then had earned enough off of his written documentary on the Phantom Thieves to support himself and his kid brother, and Ryuji was being to suspect that he doted upon Kenta.

Or maybe it was more accurate to say that he gave into the boys every whim.

"Hey! Listen to me!" Ryuji's voice echoed around the room, far too loud, and he had to make a visible effort to rein his anger in.

"Sakamoto-sensei?" 

"This is illegal! It will get me fired, get you expelled and very likely taken away from your brother too! Now get dressed." He spun on his heel and strode from the room.

But not before he saw the first tear spill down a pale cheek and his anger turned to guilt. Most of his anger was at his suspicions of Yusuke's infidelity, and therefore not aimed at Kenta Mishima.

He shook the guilt off, reasoning that if anything would get through to the boy, it was the thought of being taken away from his brother and put into foster care.

He spent a lonely, miserable train ride home, so wrapped up in the Mishima issue that he forgot to dread returning home to an empty apartment.

Only the apartment was not empty; as he opened the door, he could hear female laughter drift out into the corridor.

"I'm home!" As expected, silence filled the apartment at his announcement and then...

"DADDY!" Something hit his legs, catching him right in the balls with enough force to knock him over.

"M-Marie?!" He had to be dreaming, this could not be real! But she felt real as she clung to him, looking up at him with a face that was so like his own, with eyes only a shade darker than Ann's.

"Happy Birthday!" Two voice chorused.

He looked around and saw her, saw his Ann. No, not his, not anymore. He looked past her at Yusuke, and suddenly everything made sense.

"Yusk, I overheard you on the phone this morning, making plans with someone to meet up today... was that Ann?"

"Yes. I knew that this year there was only one thing you wanted for your birthday, only one gift that mattered. So I arranged to have Marie come over from France."

"Yusuke, thank you! You have no idea what this means to me!" He was crying softly as he held his baby girl tight, but they were tears of joy.

"I had Yusuke commission something too." Ann sounded uncertain, like she didn't know if he wanted her there.

"We can talk later, after Marie is asleep. Yusuke, I also need to talk to you." His voice was quiet, even though he now knew that he'd had no reason to suspect his partner of cheating.

"I understand. But for now, come." He helped Ryuji to his feet and the blond balanced Marie on his hip, not ready to let her go just yet.

There was a draped easel set up in the living room, and with a flourish, Yusuke removed the sheet.

It was him, and Marie. He recognized the scene; Ann must have sent Yusuke the photos she had taken when they'd gone to London one weekend when Marie was two, though Ryuji could not say which of the English Gardens they had visited this particular scene had come from.

"You did it. You finally did it."

"Ryuji?" Yusuke frowned in confusion.

" _Sayuri._ A pure beauty of your own. This is it."

Ann stepped up behind him to admire the painting she had paid to have painted. "You know what? Ryuji's right! I get the same feelings from this as I get from the _Sayuri."_

"I am not going to give up my pursuit of beauty however, I do feel that this is my Masterpiece."

"Does it have a name?"

" _Amongst The Flowers."_

"That's pretty. Can we hang it over the fireplace?"

"Ryuji, the painting is yours. Ann commissioned it from me as a present for you. You do not need my permission to chose a location to display the work." But Yusuke was smiling as he hung the framed portrait over the framed photographs of himself and Ryuji, Ryuji and Marie.

"Huh... you need a group shot!" Ann announced after studying the pictures. "I can take one." She dug a fancy digital camera from her bag.

"Group shot? You mean Marie, Yusuke, and myself?" Ryuji was confused. "But I thought you were against me seeing guys around Marie?"

She sighed. "I'd been hearing rumors about guys hooking up with men to prey on their children. That's what I didn't want around Marie. This is different; this is Yusuke. A man we can both trust with our lives, and with Marie's."

Yusuke's arms were around him so that Marie was in the middle, and Ryuji could not remember ever feeling happier. Not even that first time the nurse had handed her to him to hold.

The camera flash went off, once, twice, three times. "I'll send them over and let you choose. Oh, I almost forgot..."

Ryuji's heart sank as she pulled a legal sized Manila envelope from her purse. "More papers? I thought the divorce was already legalized?"

"It is; this is a revision of our custody agreement. I was being selfish, and Marie needs you. I spent too many nights listening to her cry for want of just a hug from you... and its not much. We already have her enrolled at school though she wont start kindergarten for another year. But if you sign, she'll live with you and Yusuke, here in Japan, over the three school breaks, Spring, Summer, and Winter."

Ryuji had never signed a paper as fast in his entire life.

* * *

She was finally asleep and Ryuji tiptoed out of the room. It was half past midnight, but it was a Saturday so he did not have to get up early the next day to teach kids how to properly run or kick a ball.

"Is she asleep?"

"Yeah, finally. Yusuke, I'm sorry but this morning... I thought you were having an affair." Ryuji ran his hands through his hair, looking around at the half eaten cake, the birthday dinner dishes pilled up in the sink.

"The apologies should be mine. I handled the arrangements wrong; please forgive me."

"I'm sorry too." Ann took his hand. "I knew since forever that you were gay, but I forced you into marriage, forced you to suppress part of yourself. I know how bad that can be... I knew what it could have done to Captain Kidd. Carmen told me." She looked away. "But I was selfish and told myself that it was okay since you loved me. I should have known that you'd cheat with a guy, should have just let you take a male lover on the side. And now... and now Marie has to split her time between France and Japan and..." She started to cry.

"Ann, it's not your fault. I should have been honest with you, and with myself."

"We didn't talk when we needed to talk. Not about what was important."

"Look there is something else... a student in my class keeps hitting on me!"

"Student? Wait, you aren't in advertising anymore?" Ann was confused.

Ryuji shook his head no. "It felt empty without you in the adds. I actually have Kamoshida's old job now; PE Teacher at Shujin. I also coach the track team."

"That's great!" She hugged him. "Now this girl...?"

"Boy. And not just any boy; his name is Kenta Mishima. Yuuki Mishima's kid brother. I've talked to him several times that he needs to lay off, but today he faked an illness to lure me into the shower room and jump me!"

"Ryuji! Are you okay?" Yusuke's voice held nothing but concern.

"Yeah, I had to knock him onto his butt to get him to stop kissing me though. And I can't go to the Principal since I used force against him, I'll be suspended. I didn't touch him but I'll still be suspended."

"Have you talked to Mishima?" Ann twirled her hair around her finger. "How is he doing anyway?"

"He's doing okay. They lost their parents in a car crash, so he's taking care of his brother on his own. But the book he wrote on the Phantom Thieves was an instant best seller, so they aren't hurting for cash or anything."

"You should call him."

"Yeah, but not tonight. Ann, you okay sharing the guest bed with Marie?"

"Actually, I booked a hotel room. I'll be heading back to France day after tomorrow; I'll be back to get Marie at the end of August."

"What? You mean...!" 

"Yeah, the new agreement is effective now. Well, as soon as it gets filed anyway. I'll mail it express to the Lawyer tomorrow. Oh, I made sure there was a clause allowing Marie to choose to live in either France or Japan full time when she gets older." She checked her bag to see if she had everything, and Ryuji saw her to the door.

"Ann, thank you for today. For everything." He held her tight.

"Just take care of her! And say no sometimes or else you'll just spoil her! If you need money, just call!" She pulled away to wipe at her eyes.

"I'll make sure she calls you daily!" He locked the door behind her as she left to walk the few blocks to her hotel.

"Ryuji, lets get to bed."

"I'm right behind you!" Ryuji yawned, and they both knew that there would be no sex that night, but that was okay because they were okay.

* * *

"Sakamoto?" Yuuki was shocked as he heard the caller identify himself. "Is... Kenta tells me that you're his new PE teacher. Is there a problem at school?"

"His grades are fine! Excellent in fact. But his behavior... Mishima there is no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it; Kenta-kun has been sexually harassing me."

Mishima sighed as he covered his face with his hand. "Not again! I'll talk to him, get him into counselling if I have to. I'll deal with him. He's addicted to sex and has no self control. Did he do anything to you?"

"He tried to force himself on me, but I knocked him onto his ass before he could get past kissing." Mishima could hear Ryuji's sigh of frustration from the other end of the connection.

"I've been looking into home schooling options, do you want me to pull him from Shujin?"

"Hes the star of the track team, but I trust you to do what is best for him. He is your brother."

"Sakamoto, thank you for telling me yourself. We should grab a coffee sometime, catch up. Without Kenta, of course."

"I would love that." As Ryuji ended the call, he leaned back into Yusuke's arms.

"Oh, I forgot to give you Marie's gift." He handed over a wrapped package, as the girl who made the gift looked up from playing with her toys.

Ryuji tore the paper in his haste, revealing a purple file folder stuffed to the brim with drawings. Marie and Ryuji. Marie, Ryuji and Ann. Marie, Ryuji and Yusuke. Each was different, and each was special.

"She has some skill, perhaps I will give her lessons when she is older." Ryuji's heart overflowed with love as Yusuke gathered up the drawings and went to find the fridge magnets.

**Author's Note:**

> The title is intended ironically; the song is about a man who is there physically for his child, but emotionally distant. Ryuji is the opposite, he wants to be there for Marie, but is not physically around anymore.
> 
> Also, Atlus has officially announced Ryuji's birthday as being July 3rd.


End file.
